Reflection
by TimelessXxX
Summary: Do you hate me now, Riku? Are you watching? Are you sad now? Do you wish things had turned out differently? Well, of course you do… and I can’t blame you if you despise me now… I think I’d hate myself too. Sora reflects on Riku. Fluffy.


The sun was setting on Destiny Islands, coloring the sky and water a deep red. The air was humid, the middle of August on an island was not exactly the most pleasant vacation weather.

Dusk was going to settle in soon, and the younger population of the island was inside, eating dinner with their families, safe and warm inside their homes. However, there was one solitary figure still sitting by the shore, staring off into the ocean.

A few seconds later, a second, slender figure settled down beside him, and both sat in silence for a while, until the girl turned.

"Sora?"

He didn't respond.

"…"

Her forehead knit in worry, before sighing quietly and turning to stare back at the ocean. The gulls cried as they flew low over the ocean, the unending sea of blue that was colored red and gold in the setting sun. Something about that made her smile sadly. "Sora… sometimes I don't even know who you are anymore. You act so… so… different."

_So distant._

He was quiet, and she assumed that he wouldn't respond again, just like every other time she tried to talk to him. He didn't know that made her cry at night.

Standing up, her eyes glistening slightly, she turned to go. He didn't look at her.

_He didn't even seem to know I was there_, she thought bitterly. Her hair fell over her face, covering her eyes.

"I'm… I have to go eat now. I guess I'll cya round, Sora…" He voiced cracked a little.

She paused, hoping that this time he'd turn and grin, and wave at her. But he didn't. He never did. Suppressing the hurt, she trudged away.

"Kairi…"

Her eyes widened, and she wiped at her tears quickly before turning around again.

"Sora?"

He was still looking away from her, but he had spoken. "I'm hurting you, aren't I?" She frowned, and stayed silent. Sitting down beside him again, she looked at him.

"I'm sorry."

"Sora… I-"

"Have you ever wondered?"

She shut her mouth, suppressing herself from bursting out like she usually would with some tactless reply. "About what?"

A breeze blew in, ruffling her hair, displacing some of the stifling hot air. "Everything." He vaguely waved a hand. "What's out… _there_. I mean, we saw what was out there. But… but don't you ever want to just leave again? I dunno… I guess…"

He turned his head slightly so that he could look at the girl out of the corner of his eye.

Kairi was silent, twirling a strand of long auburn hair around her forefinger. She had grown it out this summer, ever since she got back to Destiny Islands. She didn't know, but it made her different. It separated her from the girl that she had been before. She'd changed. That girl… that old Kairi wasn't a part of her anymore.

"This isn't about freedom… or, or boundaries, is it, Sora?"

The boy let his hand drop to his side, watching as the tide rushed in again. "No…"

_It's about Riku._

Kairi stared down at her feet, next to Sora's huge yellow shoes.

_Is he okay? Is he alive?_

"It's about Riku. Isn't it?"

_I have nightmares. So many dreams, every night I see his face. What is he doing right now? Is he still trapped in Kingdom Hearts?_

"Don't you wonder at all? He was our **best friend**. He gave up his _life_ for us. Don't you feel… any _guilt_?"

Kairi turned, her eyes full of tears. "Of **course** I do, Sora! I miss him! But we can't do anything about it, Sora. He's locked away… in there. We can't save him. I wish that I could. I wish that I could, so much. But…"

_It's true. I do. I miss him. So, so much. But still…_

Sora sighed.

_Take care of her for me, okay?_

"And now I've hurt you too." She turned, and saw him staring down at his hands, spiky brown hair covering his face.

_What are you thinking about now, Riku? Do you ever think of me? Of Kairi? Of Destiny Islands?_

Kairi hesitantly put an arm around his shoulders. "No… no Sora…"

He sniffled. "Why, Kairi? How come? How come he had to go?"

Kairi leaned her head against Sora's head, vaguely surprised at how forward she was being. "I don't know Sora… but he knew what he was doing, and he did it because he chose to-"

Sora shook his head suddenly, and Kairi flinched away, staring at him. "No! No, he didn't Kairi! He didn't **choose** to submit to the darkness that night! He didn't choose to go into Kingdom Hearts! He didn't **choose** to… but he did. And he wasn't supposed to."

_Do you hate me now, Riku? Are you watching? Are you sad now? Do you wish things had turned out differently? Well, of course you do… and I can't blame you if you despise me now… I think I'd hate myself too._

"But they did, Sora. They **did** happen, and it doesn't matter if he wanted to or not, because they happened. And you should stop thinking about the past, and wondering what you would do differently, and dwindling on the what-ifs. Because you're not going to get _anything_ done that way. Just… just…" She paused, letting her hand fall from her hair to the sand.

"What happened to the old Sora? He wouldn't… he wouldn't think this way."

A bit of the old Kairi had just come back, and half of her was glad, and half was livid at how she'd just lectured him as he started to open up to her again.

The boy beside her, however, just nodded a little. "I… I guess you're right. But…"

_I just can't forget about you, Riku. Do you want me to forget you? We were best friends. You beat me in **everything**. Am I just supposed to forget you even existed? Because if I do… then it's like you… you weren't even **real** before._

"Kairi! Dinner!"

The girl stood up. "Coming, mom!"

She turned back to the boy, who was still sitting there.

"Kairi… I've changed. I've changed a lot. I don't know if… if the old Sora's still inside of me… somewhere. But… but I think I'll try."

He smiled softly, and she smiled back, her vision blurring slightly with tears. It seemed that happened a lot when Sora was concerned.

There was silence for a while, before Kairi cleared her throat. "Um, well, I have to go eat now. So… I guess you should too, Sora. U-Unless you want to, um, you can eat with us."

Sora shook his head. "No, it's okay. I'll head back in a bit, you go on."

Kairi hesitated, then turned to walk away.

_Maybe I'm just being selfish. I know you did everything to save us, and the world, and I'm just sitting, thinking about what could've been different. I wonder what you'd say right now. Probably laugh it all off with a wave of your hand and everything would be back to normal. _

_But… Kairi's right. I guess, I shouldn't wonder about the what-ifs. I still can't help but think that you'd do so much better than me, though. You wouldn't have hurt her. You wouldn't have made her cry. I know that much. You always beat me, Riku. At everything. So… help me Riku. I know you're not there. I don't know where you are, but… I think I know that you're alive. So just help me… get through it all. Please._

"Oh! Yeah, Kairi!"

The girl turned. Sora had stood up. "Do… do you think we could meet again tomorrow?"

Kairi's face lit up in a smile and she nodded. Sora smiled back.

"Kairi! Hurry!"

"Cya then, Sora," she waved, and then turned and jogged slowly back to her house.

Sora watched her go, before turning to go back to his own house for food. Glancing over his shoulder one last time at the sunset over the ocean, he thought he saw a flash of silver and piercing green jade, before he blinked. It was just the ocean, the light refracting off the iridescent water.

_Riku… thank you. I'll try. I really will. _

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**A/N** – ooo, ok, so please review and tell me what you think! D First KH fic.

**Disclaimer:** kh is not mine, but riku is. XP jkjkjk haha 1000 words isn't mine either. T.T


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